1. Field of the Invention
The device relates to multi-terminal connectors used for connecting wire harnesses or the like applied to electric circuits of vehicles.
2. Related Art
Wire harnesses are generally connected to various electric components by branching a main line into a plurality of lines and inserting male or female connectors provided on ends of such branched lines, the main line being formed by collecting a number of wires while taping. The connecting system with male and female connectors must involve numerous connectors on an instrument panel of an automobile where many switches and meters are congested, thereby entailing not only much labor and time for connection, but also a large space dedicated for connection.
To overcome this problem, the use of multi-terminal connector is proposed. The multi-terminal connector, having more than several tens of terminal accommodating chambers, can intensively accommodate connectors having a small number of terminals per electric component. For example, a connector disclosed in Japanese Patent Examined Publication No. 12391/1990 has many terminal accommodating chambers 2 in a connector housing 1 as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, and is securely fitted with a counterpart connector housing (not shown) with a locking bolt 3. In order to prevent the accidental removal of terminals 4, terminal holding pins 5, juxtaposed so as to be comblike on a holder 6, are inserted into through holes 7 disposed so as to communicate with the respective terminal accommodating chambers 2 from an outer peripheral wall of the connector housing 1, so that the terminal holding pins 5 can be fitted with holding portions 8 of the respective terminals 4 to thereby hold the terminals 4 in the terminal accommodating chambers 2. The through holes 7 are arranged so as to pass through the respective terminal accommodating chambers 2.
Each through hole 7 is disposed so as to pass through a ceiling 2a and side walls 2b of the terminal accommodating chamber 2, and is designed to hold the terminal 4 by inserting the terminal 4 into the terminal accommodating chamber 2, inserting the terminal holding pin 5 having such a sectional profile matching the through hole 7 as shown in FIG. 9, and thereafter fitting an end portion 5a of the terminal holding pin 5 with a rear end edge 8a of the holding portion 8 of the terminal 4.
On the other hand, on a bottom wall 2c of the terminal accommodating chamber 2 includes a flexible holding arm 9, so that the terminal holding pin 5 and the terminal 4 can be held doubly by fitting a holding projection 8c with the holding arm 9. The holding projection 8c is formed by cutting and bending a central portion between a conductor connecting portion 4a and an electric contact portion 4b of the terminal 4.
However, in the process of inserting the terminal 4 into the terminal accommodating chamber 2, what happens often is that the terminal 4 is inserted slightly obliquely as shown in FIG. 11 and, as a result, a front end edge 8b of the holding portion 8 of the terminal 4 abuts against a front wall 7a of the through hole 7, thereby preventing the terminal 4 from being inserted into a predetermined position shown in FIG. 10. The operation of adjusting the position of the terminal is extremely labor- and time-consuming. Thus, extremely low productivity and defective insertion of terminals are potential serious problems to be encountered by the multi-terminal connector.